All in the family
by donquichotte
Summary: It's a small world after all... light doctor/rose in chap 1, chap 2 is gen
1. If you'd been listening, you'd know

Not mine.

oO*Oo

"Please?" Rose widened her eyes pleadingly. "We don't even have to stop at Mum's this time."

Trying very hard to avoid his companion's gaze, the Doctor _absolutely did not_ whine, "But Rose, we could go to Falane. Haven't I ever told you about Falane? There are seven moons – can you imagine seven moons? It makes charting the tides very complex, you know – and each one's a different colour, and once every three hundred years they're all in the sky at once and the locals have this huge festival. I can take you there in 156.# Delta-V. Inter-galatically acclaimed party, that was. Yes?"

"Doctor. I want to go see my great-aunt and uncle. Anyways, you have a time-machine – it's not like we can't go to your moon-festival any time you like."

"Fine," huffed the Doctor, resolving for the thousandth time to do something about his apparent inability to deny Rose Tyler anything. "London, boring early twenty-first century London, it is, then."

"Thank you!" With a small squeal, Rose flung herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Why was it so important to learn to resist Rose's wiles, again?

oO*Oo

"Aunt Barbara – my Gran Prentiss' sister – was always my favourite relative. She's always so dignified and elegant, but not in a stuffy way. I used to want to be her when I grew up, except for her job: history teacher." Rose grimaced and then gave a small laugh. "And look at me – drop-out shop-girl flitting through time and space."

"Hmmmm." The Doctor fiddled with his controls some more and peered at some flashing lights. "Right."

"And you're not even listening to me."

A violent shaking interrupted whatever response he might have made and, through force of long habit, they both reached out to grab supports.

When the shaking ceased, the Time Lord beamed at his companion. "Here we are then. Are you sure you want to miss the – "

"Yes." Just before stepping outside the doors, Rose turned back and held out a hand. "You coming?"

He was tempted; her hand, outstretched towards him, looked so inviting. But, after all she was going to visit her _great-aunt_. It didn't get much more domestic than that. And the aunt was on Jackie's side of the family.

"Nah. Got some repairs to do. You run along, and don't get into trouble, now."

"Yes, sir." She gave him a salute that would give any legitimate officer a heart attack, and that cheeky smile that always, _always_ made him feel as though _he_ were having a hearts attack, and then she was gone in a flash of gold hair and red hoodie.

He attempted to ignore his immediate feeling of loss, and busied himself with tinkering superfluously around the TARDIS circuits.

oO*Oo

Emerging from the TARDIS, Rose glanced around and grinned. "Score one for the Doctor," she muttered "Right neighbourhood."

With the ease of long practice she quickly spotted temporal clues – there was a 2006 model car, and, yes, a newspaper.

"March 20th, 2007." With a nod to the TARDIS and its occupant, she complimented the accuracy. "Well done."

Time and place established to her satisfaction, Rose made her way through her aunt's front garden and raised her hand to knock on door.

It swung open before her hand made contact, and her Aunt Barbara nearly crashed into her.

"Ian! I swear I heard – Rose!"

"Hi Aunt Barbara. Um. Is this a bad time? I was just in the area and uh..."

"No, not at all, Rose. I just thought, for a moment, that I heard an... old...friend..." The end of the older woman's sentence trailed away as her focus shifted to somewhere over Rose's shoulder. Turning to look, Rose saw nothing unusual except the TARDIS, and people just didn't notice the time ship.

"Aunt Barbara?" she asked, a little worried.

Ignoring her great-niece, Barbara pressed a hand to her chest and called again for her husband. "Ian! Come quickly! Ian!"

From somewhere inside the house, a man's voice, muffled, made its way to their ears. "Coming Barbara. What is it? You'd think, from the way you were yelling, that you'd been captured by a – oh, hello, Rose." He shot a reproachful look at his wife. "You needn't sound so panicked, darling. It's just Rose."

"No, Ian. Look." She gestured to the street, and following the movement with his eyes, Ian sucked in a breath.

"Is that -? But it can't be!"

Growing more and more confused by the second, Rose turned again to look and saw, again, only the TARDIS out of place. Throwing caution to the winds, she asked, "Are you looking at that police box?"

The older couple jumped, startled by the reminder of her presence. "Oh, yes. I don't remember seeing it there before. They were dead common when I was younger, but you don't see many of them nowadays." Barbara sounded almost normal, but there was a tremor of excitement underlying her words.

Suspicious now, Rose narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I know all about _police boxes_. They're quite a bit _roomier_ on the inside, wouldn't you say?"

"Now wait a minute!" Ian broke in, "Are you trying to say that you've, well, traveled in a _police box_?"

"Yes, I am." Rose grinned. "I don't suppose you happened to know the owner of the _police box_?"

"As a matter of fact...A Doctor, wasn't he?"

"I don't believe it!" Rose howled. "He has no idea! And on my mum's side too!" She dissolved into giggles, leaving Barbara and Ian gaping.

"Ian, I think we should invite Rose in, don't you?"

"Right, yes. Come along Rose." They shepherded the still giggling girl into the living room where she sank onto a couch.

"I've got it!" Ian shouted suddenly. "That year you were missing! We should have known: it happened to us, too."

"So, you traveled with the Doctor?" Rose leaned forwards intently. "When?"

"Oh, well, it was 1963 when he kidnapped us and took us all over time and space."

"_Kidnapped?_"

"Oh yes. I admit that we forced our way into the TARDIS, but the crafty old man just took us off to the caveman days and couldn't get us home for ages."

"That sounds like the Doctor. You said he was an old man?"

"Yes, of course."

"He's not old now." It came out a little defensively – he was older, yes, but not _that_ old, no matter what her mum said.

"But he was old! White hair and a cane!"

"He must've regenerated," Rose mused. "I wonder which one you knew."

"What the blazes do you mean?"

"It always amazes me," Barbara said archly to her husband, "that after all you've seen, and all you've done, you still get so adorably ruffled by anything that smacks of the unusual.

"But Rose, dear, I think we would both like to hear the story properly."

As Ian spluttered indignantly, Rose settled back to tell the story. Her great-aunt and uncle were an excellent audience and listened attentively (mostly because Barbara kept a stern eye on her husband's outbursts).

When she was done, both her relatives were left astonished.

"You mean to say," Ian began, "that he's a nine-hundred-year-old alien? That's fantastic!"

Rose made a small sound at the word. "He used to say that, all the time. Back before he changed. Everything was 'fantastic'." She looked wistful for a moment, but quickly regained her happy mood. "Now you tell me your story! I want to hear this."

"I suppose," Barbara mused quietly, "that it all began at Coal Hill School, with an extraordinary girl named Susan Foreman, who had an extraordinary grandfather –"

"He was traveling with his _granddaughter_?" Rose gaped. "And he complains about domesticity!" Realising she'd interrupted, Rose looked sheepish. "Oh, sorry. Go on."

Ian chuckled deeply. "Well, we were worried about Susan; she was just so odd! So we dug up her information and tracked her down. Found out her address was a scrap yard that contained the most interesting item – a police box. We eventually found ourselves standing in a junkyard, arguing with a grumpy old man. Susan came out to see what was happening and we pushed our way in. Got a good shock, too. But we were even more shocked when the doors closed and he wouldn't let us out. Yelled something about preserving timelines and took us off to visit the cavemen."

The couple continued their story, taking turns and often sending Rose into fits of laughter.

By the time they ran out of funny anecdotes, all three of them were gasping for breath. Rose leaned forwards with a wicked grin. "Wanna play a trick on the Doctor?" At Barbara's and Ian's answering grins, she continued, "I think it's time for a little reunion, don't you?"

oO*Oo

The Doctor winced as a circuit sparked and stuck a finger in his mouth. Then, he heard what could only be Rose's key in the lock and smiled happily. It seemed a long time since she'd left.

"And this is the TARDIS, our time-and-space ship." Rose's voice, with the tone of a tour guide, filtered through the open door.

The Doctor sat up so abruptly that he smacked his head on the console.

"Rose!" he yelped, "You can't go bringing people into the TARDIS! It's bad enough that your mother –" He broke off, gaping, as he got a good look at the couple he assumed to be Rose's relatives. "_What!_"

"Hello, Doctor." The woman smiled as Rose dissolved into hysterics.

"But...Barbara...Ian. Rose. _What?_"

"If you'd listened at all when I was telling you about my great-aunt and uncle, you'd have realised."

"I listened." The Doctor grumbled.

"Oh, then I suppose I just _forgot_ to mention that I was related to some of your former companions?"

"I expect you must have."

Despite his haughty superiority, Rose grinned at him. "You're ridiculous." She said fondly. "And you have guests."


	2. Echoes of the past

So this is sometime after the end of Series 5, and before the Series 6.

I may be wrong, but doesn't Amy have parents now? I just don't remember seeing anything about them in Series 6 (nor much here on , actually). Well, if I did misunderstand, then I guess this is AU.

oO*Oo

"Hey Doctor, we're going to visit my parents now.

"Are we, Pond?"

"Yes; we went off with you after the wedding, and the honeymoon was … well, it was certainly exciting, but now I want to hug my dad and have tea with my mum."

"See, I seem to remember that oh yes; I'm the one who flies the TARDIS."

"And?"

"And so I say where we go."

"Actually, I think it's more the TARDIS who says where we go..." Rory put in, his sentence trailing off as the Doctor scoffed.

"I definitely wear the pants in this relationship." Amy stated, causing her husband and her friend to share a look of resigned commiseration. "Leadworth. Now."

The Doctor capitulated. "Well, never let it be said that I never did anything for you," he grumbled, setting coordinates.

"Thank you, Doctor" said Amy as she bounced over to kiss him on the cheek before dragging Rory off to their room.

The Doctor sighed. Time was his companions were properly respectful; none of this dragging him around to visit their families nonsense. They'd followed orders, they had… Oh what was he saying? His companions, bless them, had always been impertinent little things.

oO*Oo

"Well, go on." The Time Lord made a shoo-ing motion at the couple. "Go have your tea and hugs."

"Oh, you're coming too, Doctor." Amy grabbed his arm and all but dragged him to the door.

"But I have … things to do! Important things!"

"Uh-huh. Let's go." She paraded out the door, Doctor in tow and Rory trailing behind.

oO*Oo

Amy's mother screamed when she opened the door to find her daughter, her son-in-law and … that odd fellow from the wedding.

"Amy! Where have you been? We got your postcards - were they some kind of joke? All those strange places."

"Yeah, mum, just a joke. This here's the Doctor, he offered us a trip with him. You wouldn't believe the things we saw."

"Oh, come in, all of you. I'll just put some tea on. Maybe I can find some biscuits…Augustus! Amy's back!"

"Lovely woman, your mum!" beamed the Doctor, "Haven't had a welcome like that in ages!"

"Ah! Amy!" interrupted the rolling brogue of Mr. Pond. "Come give your old man a hug!"

As the ginger happily complied, the Doctor wandered into the living room and blinked at the large crest set over the mantle. He popped his head back into the foyer, where Rory was heartily clasping his father-in-law's hand.

"Excuse me, but is that the McCrimmon family crest?"

"Why, yes. It's an old family heirloom. How on Earth did you – ? Hang on, you were at the wedding, with that box…"

"Yes, that's me, I'm the Doctor, hello!"

"Well, Doctor, you take an interest in Scottish history, then? Never had anyone recognise it before."

"Oh, I'm interested in everything. I knew a man once, a McCrimmon. Wonderful man. _Although_, never could convince him to lose the kilt."

"I tell you what, Doctor, I've got some other rather fine artefacts I can show you. Some from as early as the 18th century if you can believe it, I've thought about giving them to a museum, but I just can't quite bring myself to give them up." The portly man bustled up the stairs, still talking.

"Now he's got you, Doctor." Amy smirked. "Go on. Go get an amateur history lecture. But be nice, he's my dad."

"I'm always nice!"

Amy snorted, but shooed him in the direction of the stairs.

In truth, he was interested in these artefacts, just not for the historical value; obscure 'family heirlooms' that survived centuries tended to resurface as nasty alien devices sooner or later. _Best to nip that sort of thing in the bud_, he thought as he pushed open the door to a spacious, sunlit study.

Mr. Pond stood by a display case that held a set of bagpipes, resting on a tartan kilt. They were practically in perfect condition, the Time Lord noted with a chill. He approached warily, reaching for the sonic screwdriver, listening absentmindedly to the other man's cheerful dialogue.

"These are the real treasures of my collection; they belonged to a young piper of Clan McLaren, I believe. He survived the Battle of Culloden, that much is known. Unfortunately the records from that time are very sparse, and I've no other information on him. And this here," he continued, turning to another display, "is an old Campbell family Bible. If you'll look here, there's a family tree written in…"

The Doctor scanned the kilt and bagpipes quickly.

_Odd. Very odd._

The readings indicated that they did, in fact, date from the mid-18th century, but also that they were made of highly advanced synthetic materials that wouldn't be produced on Earth until the 22nd century. In fact, he realised as numbers flashed on the little screen, they gave off the faintest trace of Artron radiation.

"But that means these are Jamie's," he muttered in disbelief. "My Jamie's."

Jamie, his brave, adventurous companion, so unprepared by his upbringing for a life with the Doctor, but flourishing nonetheless. Jamie, whose memories of that time were lost.

It was comforting to think that Jamie had settled down and had a family, a family, the Doctor realised belatedly, that culminated in mad, fairy-tale Amy Pond.

"What was that?" Mr. Pond interjected.

"Oh, they're just familiar is all. My friend, he had a set just like them. Only, er, newer. Sort of."

"Ah, well then." The man blinked in slight confusion before rallying. "I have over here a century-old map of…"

oO*Oo

The Doctor ended up quite enjoying the impromptu lecture; Mr. Pond turned out to be a clever man, with some astonishing insights into human behaviour. He was also willing to consider new lines of thought when the Doctor couldn't restrain himself from commenting, and their dialogue quickly evolved. The man was elaborating a highly detailed plan for governing a hypothetical lunar mining colony (a plan that the Doctor knew to be remarkably similar to the one employed with wild success by the Argoset Mining Co. on thousands of moons throughout the Amile System) when Mrs. Pond called them down to tea.

After a lovely cuppa (nothing on Jackie Tyler's tea though) and some highly satisfactory biscuits (unfortunately, no Jammy Dodgers), he and the younger couple piled back into the TARDIS.

"Not so bad after all, eh Doctor?" teased Amy.

"No, not so bad at all. Actually, I didn't get slapped, so that's a win. And your dad is magnificent, a man ahead of his time. And, oh! I used to travel with your great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-something. Picked him up in the Highlands of Scotland in 1746. Oh, I would have kept Jamie for a long time…"

"What happened?" Amy ventured, worried that the partnership had ended in the worst way.

The Doctor frowned, but didn't look devastated.

"My people interfered and erased his memories of me. James Robert McCrimmon. Always such gentleman. It drove Zoë mad." he confided, then chuckled. "Victoria loved it though."

"You've traveled with a lot of people, haven't you Doctor?" Rory asked quietly.

"Oh, yes, so very many. And they leave me, in the end, always, all spread out through time and space, all so impossibly distant and far away. And then I'm reminded that they're all so much closer than I think."


End file.
